Provide names of other journalists involved.
Jason Shoultz Marinda Johnson-Gorman Alice Yu Kevin Burke Esther Ritter Jamie Judd
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
12/19/12 12/21/12 12/23/12
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Sidelined: Concussions in Sports focuses on youth, high school and professional sports and concussions. Former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers George Visger opens up about his concussions. Visger played for the team in 1980 and suffered a severe concussion that left him with nine brain surgeries. He opens up about his challenges and memory loss. Baseline testing has been done in the NFL for years. In California, it is now being used in high school and some youth sports. Some of significant findings in the program are you don’t have to be hit on the head to get concussion. You can actually get concussed if you are hit hard enough on any part of your body. There’s also a concussion consortium that consists of doctors and business leaders from all of the major hospitals in Northern California. Politics and competition aside, they are teaming up and trying to protect athletes on and off the field by educating school districts about baseline testing. They are hoping this grassroots effort goes national.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
I used the Internet for a majority of my research. The American Journal of Medicine was the source for my statistics. I also reached out to experts in the field of concussions and pre-interviewed them to get the most accurate and updated information for the documentary.
Explain types of human sources used.
Two former NFL players George Visger and Doug Cosbie open up and talk about the severity of concussions. Visger’s life changed forever after a play in 1980 against the Dallas Cowboys. Visger suffered a concussion that left him with nine brain surgeries and headache of medical bills and he is now homeless. Visger and Cosbie talk about how important it is to stay out of the game if you are concussed. Dr. Jeffrey Tanji, UC Davis Sports Medicine Director talks about the importance of treating concussions, especially in younger athletes. Dr. Catherine Broomand, PhD spoke about the timing of returning to play after an athlete has been concussed. Dr. Renee Low, PhD spoke about how concussions impact athletes at school, and how their grades can suffer drastically. A former high school football player, cheerleader and soccer player also open up about their personal journey of suffering a concussion; and how it has changed their life at such a young age.
Results:
Here are a few comments from people who watched the show. Dr. Jeffrey Tanji Dear Kelly: “I had to work on Wednesday night and I missed the live broadcast of your program. I did see it last night and it was fantastic. Thank you for your strong work in making a great story with passion, good content and what I thought are excellent technical values. It has been a pleasure working with you and your team.” Dear Kelly: “I had to work on Wednesday night and I missed the live broadcast of your program. I did see it last night and it was fantastic. Thank you for your strong work in making a great story with passion, good content and what I thought are excellent technical values. It has been a pleasure working with you and your team.”
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No correction.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
I worked around the clock trying to get both of the NFL players to open up and tell their story in hopes of saving lives and keeping athletes safe on and off the field. I encourage you to never give up on someone who has a story to tell. The two former football players really added a lot by telling us about their injuries. And how we can now use their experience to help future athletes stay safe.